When choosing a university, I quickly became aware of California State University Fullerton. On the one hand by the good geographical location near the diverse city of Los Angeles and on the other hand by the courses and subjects offered. The location of the university later turned out to be just as good as I had imagined.
But first I would like to report on the application process. After consulting numerous websites about a semester abroad, I quickly came across MicroEDU after consulting with other students in my faculty. With the help of the helpful search function, I quickly found suitable universities that offer my degree program, which is already considered exotic in the USA. The application process at CSUF was no problem at all with the help of MicroEDU. In general, I’d like to mention how helpful everyone involved was. The International Student Office at the CSUF was always available as a point of contact and was happy to give tips outside of their normal area of activity.
I chose on-campus living to have a short commute to class and really get to know American student life. I can only recommend this, even if it is a bit more expensive, it was definitely worth the money. The community that has built up between the international students was mainly characterized by the fact that all acquaintances lived a maximum of 5 minutes away. It was always very easy to meet each other or to do small things together without a big run-up. When booking my flightsI proceeded very carefully because my flight details were so far apart it was harder to find cheap flights. Nevertheless, after some searching, I was able to find good offers. Read more student reviews on Ehuacom.
Orientation and study – well organized
On the first day, all international students met for their check-in appointment in the main building of the university. The atmosphere was great. Everyone was very excited and you could make your first acquaintances. The formalities were then dealt with together with some student employees and I was able to move into my room. Once there, I met a roommate who had previously moved in and attended the rest of the orientation events with him. The organization of the orientation days was flawless on the part of the CSUF. Everything was precisely planned and everyone involved was always ready to answer any questionsthat came up. Due to the good preparation on the part of MicroEDUs, I had no problems with paying the tuition fees. Other international students who had organized their semester abroad themselves were busy making all payments for the first three days. Nevertheless, with the help of the International Student Office, they were able to complete all formalities on time.
Unfortunately, you have to be somewhat flexible when choosing a course, as the international students are only assigned to the courses after the regular students. The so-called class crashing, which is explained by MicroEDU, is a helpful method to still get the courses you want. In general, almost everything at the CSUF works online with its own service called Titan Online. The lecturers, however, have a great deal of understanding and for their part give everything to get the international students into their desired courses. Those who stay on the ball have a good chance of being very satisfied with the courses they have taken.
Freedom from having your own car
There is no shortage of leisure activities in the greater Los Angeles area. The beach is around 30 minutes away by car and all other attractions, such as the Hollywood Sign or the Walk of Fame, are around 60 minutes by car. In general, however, it should be noted that Los Angeles is a car city. This means that almost everything has to be reached by car, due to the vastness and poor public transport infrastructure. Nowadays, however, using transport services such as Uber or Lyft is very simple, so everything is easily accessiblecan be. If you want, you can buy a cheap car for the time and sell it again after the semester. I did this and have not regretted it. Although it is associated with a certain amount of effort, the freedom gained cannot be replaced by anything.
Conclusion
Spending my semester at CSUF was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Campus life and studying differ significantly from what we are used to in Germany, but in a positive way. The community and solidarity among the students was so strong that lifelong friendships with people from all over the world have developed. If you want to improve your English, do a bit of sightseeing and want to get to know many new cultures, you should do a semester abroad. The CSUF is an absolutely recommendable place for this.
